Leanna Carriere and Timm Döbert
Ecologist Dr Timm Döbert and endurance athlete Leanna Carriere are embarking on an extreme sports expedition to bring nature to the forefront of the Canadian conversation. Now they’re turning their attention to Canadian Olympics sponsor Lululemon, challenging the homegrown sportswear brand to take action to reduce harmful emissions and fossil fuel pollution.
About the authors
Leanna Carriere is an endurance athlete, former international pole vaulter and Canada’s first female decathlete. She has completed several Ironman events, the Mt. Everest Marathon and the Patagonman Xtreme triathlon, and is the co-founder of 7 Summits Snacks. She is also an EcoAthletes champion.
Conservation scientist Timm Döbert is an explorer, wildlife photographer and triathlete with a PhD in global change ecology. He researches the human footprint on wildlife and wild spaces from tropical to temperate biomes.
We’ve just returned from a 9,000km, 30-day coast-to-coast cycle from Halifax to Vancouver. Along our route, we visited 30 protected and key biodiversity areas in support of Canada’s commitment to conserving 30% of land and water by 2030. Currently, with less than 6 years to go, just 15% of Canadian nature is being protected against biodiversity loss and environmental pollution. The impacts of climate change are amplifying this threat, from rising sea levels and soaring temperatures to wildfires and extreme weather events.
As we reached the finish line in Vancouver (the home of Lululemon’s global headquarters), having witnessed firsthand the impacts of climate change across the country, we felt inspired to challenge the Canadian sportswear giant to join our journey to protect the environment through meaningful climate action. Between 2018 and 2022, Lululemon’s carbon footprint increased by a massive 114%, and while the multi-billion dollar brand claims to run its stores and offices (which account for just 0.3% of its total emissions) on 100% renewable energy, its true climate impact is very much not ‘Made in Canada’. In fact, a recent investigation found that the majority of Lululemon’s emissions are exported to Southeast Asia, where its manufacturing relies on fossil fuels — especially coal — and is associated with harmful air and water pollution that endangers fragile ecosystems and vulnerable communities.
For our ride across Canada, we carefully selected clothing brands with high social and environmental standards. Athletes deserve to wear sportswear that does not harm the planet, including the Olympians and Paralympians that Lululemon is dressing at this summer’s games. But even with growing awareness of the carbon footprint of sporting events — and the Paris Olympics’ promise to tread lighter than previous games — the impact of apparel is still largely ignored, despite the fashion industry contributing up to 10% of the world’s carbon emissions. Not to mention, cotton, viscose and leather production are leading drivers of deforestation and environmental degradation, amplifying the industry’s negative impacts on climate and biodiversity.
Next summer, we’ll embark on our 30,000km Wings of Survival cycling expedition from Alaska to Patagonia, following the migrations of billions of birds along the Americas Flyway. The initiative is inspired by the mounting escalation of the global biodiversity and extinction crises, and aims to inspire, enable, and empower people to protect, conserve, restore, and rewild 30% of land and water by 2030 to safeguard life on Earth.
As we follow the progression of summer across the Americas, the impacts of climate change could affect our performance and even determine the outcome of our ride. According to a new report about the threat of extreme heat at the 2024 Olympics, athletes are facing elevated risks of heat stroke and experiencing symptoms like exhaustion, nausea, dizziness, confusion, rapid pulse, muscle cramps and respiratory distress while competing in high temperatures. In fact, extreme weather events are becoming increasingly common across all the regions we’ll be cycling through, with record heat waves experienced in 2023 from South to North America, facilitating unprecedented wildfires across Canada and other places.
This is why we are asking Lululemon to embrace our call for meaningful environmental action and live up to its duty of care for people and the planet. We believe the Canadian brand has a real opportunity to become a champion for nature, alongside a growing chorus of world-class athletes who want to protect the future of sport. Lululemon’s first step should be to update its climate targets and develop a more ambitious strategy to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and fossil fuel consumption. By investing in the green transition to clean renewable energy across its supply chain, Lululemon can truly make Canada proud.
As ultra-endurance athletes, we understand the importance of ambitious, time-bound goals and regularly overcome big hurdles to achieve them. It takes bold commitment, dedication, discipline and willpower — Lululemon needs to step up its game to truly compete on climate.
